Leaving the Dursleys
by Padfootette
Summary: What happens when Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban and finds out that Vernon and Petunia have been abusing and mistreating his beloved seven year old Godson; Harry Potter. There will be mentions of child abuse.
1. Chapter One: Running away

**A/N: the characters and places do not belong to me they belong to J.K Rowling, I am just using them in a way she didn't. This story contains child abuse.) Thanks to my beta for this story: lovebites123.**

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**Chapter One: Running away.**

The late September sun was setting on the immaculate lawns of Privet Drive, everything seemed perfectly normal, except in one house, number four. A Mercedes had just pulled into number four's drive, and a large beefy man, with hardly any neck and an equally large moustache eased himself out of his brand new car. Vernon Dursley then proceeded to let himself into the house. When they entered the living-room, Vernon saw his large, seven year old son Dudley watching a program on the television. Petunia then proceeded to tell Vernon about what had happened earlier that day; where Harry had somehow, mysteriously broken Dudley's favourite remote-control car, after Harry had shouted at Dudley to stop doing something, and that he is now in his cupboard, but not before Petunia herself had shouted at him and hit him around the head and with a promise that Vernon would know as soon as he came home from work. During Petunia's recount on what had happened earlier that day, Vernon's face had gone redder and redder with each recollection and now his face was a nasty, sickly colour of puce and the vein in his right temple was throbbing almost painfully. Vernon then growled out, "How dare that nasty, ungrateful freak do that to my son, he will pay dearly for that. Petunia, dear, fetch my largest and thickest leather belt, it is time that toe-rag is punished properly." Petunia nodded and hurried off upstairs, to fetch Vernon's largest and thickest leather belt from their bedroom. She returned a few seconds later with said belt in hand and, seeing her husband waiting outside the living-room door, handed it to him she then turned and entered the living-room, there was no need for her to punish the boy, and Vernon can do a well enough job of that on his own, she thought. She then shut the door behind her and sat on the sofa to watch the television with Dudley. After Vernon heard the living-room door close, he proceeded down the hall to the cupboard under the stairs. He wrenched the door of the cupboard open to see Harry looking at him with large fear-filled emerald-green eyes. "I-I'm s-sorry u-uncle V-Vernon." Harry stammered.

"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT BOY!" roared uncle Vernon. "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO DUDLEY, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE CREATURE!" Vernon continued and lifted the belt threateningly at Harry. Harry then tried to back away from his uncle, but with no such luck as the cupboard under the stairs was tiny. Vernon punched Harry in the ribs when he saw that Harry was trying to back away from him. The force of his uncle's punch made Harry gasp out in pain and to curl up into a ball, which unfortunately gave his uncle access to his back. Vernon then brought the belt down onto Harry's extremely small back, making Harry scream in pain. This only made Vernon hit Harry harder with the belt, he carried on doing this three or four times getting harder with each hit, with only Harry's cries and sobs to stop and the crack of the belt as Vernon raised it in the air to strike again breaking the silence. Harry could feel a warm substance seeping through his extremely baggy and faded shirt and he knew his back was bleeding profusely. Vernon then used the buckle of the belt on Harry's small ankles, and after he finished with the belt he put it into his pocket. Harry should have known that it wasn't over so soon, because Vernon then proceeded to punch every bit of Harry he could reach. After two and a half hours, or so it felt like to Harry, Vernon stopped punching him and Harry chanced a glance at his uncle. "If you ever do anything...anything at all, again to Dudley or anything to our possessions, I promise you boy, your punishment will be much, much worse, and to make sure you don't do anything again, we will continue with this after dinner." the brute of a man promised.

With that said he exited the cupboard and went to join his wife and son in the living-room to watch the television. Harry knew then that he couldn't stay here. He forced his aching body to get up off the small fraying bed, and reach for the old rucksack that was on the shelf above his bed. He then packed his old and fraying blanket into the rucksack, and then reached for the book that was under the bed, (he had taken it from Dudley's second bedroom the other day), and packed that into the rucksack as well. Harry Potter was an unusual boy: he didn't have any friends thanks to Dudley and his gang, he didn't have anything belongings to Harry only his blanket which he had had for as long as he could remember-but he also made strange things happen around him like earlier that day. But he liked reading and spent most of his time reading and spending his lunch and break times in the library teaching himself to read as he knew his aunt and uncle would never teach him, but he also knew that while at school Dudley and his friends would never set foot in the library so he was safe, while he was in there. He then pulled on some fading old socks, and trainers with their souls peeling from their uppers, carefully put the rucksack onto his back, wincing as it made contact with the fresh wounds he had just obtained. He then pulled on some fading old socks, and trainers with their souls peeling from their uppers, carefully put the rucksack onto his back, wincing as it made contact with the fresh wounds he had just obtained, and, quietly as he could, opened the door to the cupboard and crept out, carefully shutting it so it didn't make a sound, otherwise he would be in even more trouble.

He carefully crept down the hall to the front door, his heart beating almost painfully in his chest. He had reached the front door, and, pausing to listen to see if his aunt, uncle or cousin were coming out of the living-room, quietly opened the door, thankful that uncle Vernon always had the television on extremely loud so they wouldn't hear the front door clicking in the then began his walk up Privet Drive. Night had already fallen and all of the street lamps were making everything glow amber in the early evening. He could see Mrs Figg's house opposite, but he wasn't stopping there. He carried on up the street without knowing where he was or where he was going, he carried on until he came to a fork in the road. Up the right path he thought he could hear the distant rumble of passing cars; however he didn't want anyone to see him and take him back to the Dursleys, so he took the left chilly wind decided to make itself known on the early September evening and he wrapped his arms around his small frame, trying to keep himself warm. He wished his overly baggy and faded shirt was warmer than what it was. His cuts on his back and ankles were stinging in the cold, as well as his split lip but he ignored it and pushed his broken glasses further up his nose. He carried on up the path and could see a park that had a swing park at the edge of it. He almost ran to the park and carefully sat down on the swing; he placed his rucksack on the ground and coiled his small arms around the chains of the swing. How long he sat there he did not know, but he was brought back to his surroundings by a twig cracking and he realised he was not alone and that there was someone else there just standing outside his range of vision.


	2. Chapter Two: The Meeting in the Park

**Thanks to my beta, lovebites123 for helping me with this chapter.**

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**Chapter Two: The Meeting in the Park.**

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realised it was a large, shaggy black dog, that was just outside his range of vision, but now it was slowly making its way towards Harry. "Hey, there it's all right I'm not going to hurt you." Harry called calmly to the dog. The dog made its way towards Harry, until it was right in front of him. Harry cautiously reached out his hand to stroke the dog, when the dog did nothing; Harry started scratching the dog's ears, the dog barked happily, and then started licking Harry's fingers, making him laugh for the first time in ages or perhaps years. After the dog had finished licking Harry's fingers, Harry looked at the dog to see that its fur was all matted. "Don't you have anywhere to go either?" Harry asked the dog. The dog then gave Harry what looked like to Harry at least, a concerned and confused look. "I ran away from my aunt and uncle's house." Harry said shivering. He then opened the old rucksack, and pulled out his old and ragged blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders in hope it would warm him up, even if only a little, but to no avail.

The look on the dog's face proceeded to deepen, which confused Harry but he was happy to have someone to talk to, that didn't shout at him or hit him, even if it was a dog. "I ran away because of my uncle, he hates me, and he h-h-hit me 'cause I had accidently broken Dudley's favourite remote-control car. I didn't mean to I got mad at Dudley 'cause he kept hitting me, so I shouted at him, then the car broke. Aunt Petunia came in and shouted at me and hit me over the head, and locked me in the cupboard under the stairs, with a promise that she was going to tell Uncle Vernon. I told her I was sorry and I wouldn't do it again, but she didn't believe me. Then uncle Vernon came home he was so mad, it was scary I told him I was sorry and he didn't listen, and said I was a freak, then he..." Harry trailed off with tears rolling down his face. The dog then looked at the crying boy in front of it that looked hardly older than four years old. The dog's body and limbs started to lengthen and Harry sat looking at the dog in shock. But the dog was not there anymore, instead was a very skinny man, with dirty robes, haunted grey eyes and shoulder length, and matted black hair. Harry was so shocked, he had just seen a dog turn into man right in front of him, maybe uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia were right maybe he was a freak, no, there was no maybe about it, he **was** a freak.

As he stared at the gaunt-faced man, the shock started to wear off and instead it was replaced by fear. Harry quickly got up of the swing, to quickly that he lost his balance and stumbled, the man with the gaunt face caught Harry before he fell, Harry winced as the man touched just before his shoulder and the man let go. Harry picked up his rucksack and started to back away from the man. "Harry, wait." The man called. Harry froze where he stood, shocked that this stranger knew his name, as he didn't tell the dog his name.

"H-How d-do y-you k-know m-my n-name?" Harry hesitantly asked the stranger fear shinning brightly in his emerald eyes.

"Yes, Harry. I know your name because I'm your Godfather." The man replied. Harry stared at the man in shock; he had a Godfather, why didn't his aunt or uncle tell him. "I-I have a-a Godfather." Harry stammered. "Aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon didn't tell me, they are my only family since mummy and daddy died in that car crash, when I was a baby 'cause daddy was driving when he was drunk, and I-I ended up with this weird scar." Harry said, showing the man his lightning-bolt scar.

The man looked extremely angry after Harry told him that Vernon and Petunia had lied. Harry started backing away from the man, fear written clear on his face. "Harry, I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at your aunt and uncle for not telling you the truth. Your mum and dad, did not die in a car crash, and your dad would never drink-drive, he would never ever, endanger yours or your mum's life like that. They were the kindest and most caring people I have ever met and they loved you very much, Harry." The man said. "And my name is Sirius Black and your parents named me your Godfather when you were born."

"Y-You k-knew m-mummy a-and d-daddy?" Harry asked.

"Yes, we went to school together, it's a special school called Hogwarts, and it's for witches and wizards." Sirius said.

"Uncle Vernon said, 'there's no such thing as magic'." Harry said hesitantly.

"Your uncle lied to you, magic is real, that's why I was able to turn into a dog, your father was a wizard and he was also my best friend, your mother was a witch, and you Harry, are a wizard like me and your father." Sirius explained gently.

"I'm not a wizard like you or daddy; I'm a worthless, unloved and unwanted freak." Harry said sadly.

Sirius was shocked by what Harry had just said, and he rushed to correct the boy, but also to reassure him. "Harry, don't you dare say that. Your aunt and uncle are horrible people for saying that to you, and it's not true. You are wanted and loved and you're a wizard Harry. And you are not worthless or a freak, they should've never of said that to you." Sirius said.

"No, I'm not wanted or loved and I am a worthless freak, 'cause I have only them and they just..." Harry trailed off, tears re-filling his eyes.

Sirius walked towards the small child and gave him a hug. "Harry, you are not worthless and you are defiantly not a freak. I love you, you are my Godson and I'm sorry I haven't been around before, I've...I've been away, but I'm here now and I want you, I want to take care of you."

"Y-you l-love me and y-you want to take care of me?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry I do. And…I was wondering how old are you?"

"I-I'm seven." Harry replied pulling back from Sirius, wincing a bit because the wind made his wounds on his back and ankles sting. Sirius felt even more anger towards the Dursleys as he saw Harry wince, and by Harry looking three years younger than he should. But then he remembered what Harry had told him when he was Padfoot. _Aunt Petunia locked me in the cupboard under the stairs_. Realisation then hit him that this was not a new occurrence; it happened often. Anger bubble up inside of him but he kept his expression blank, so as not to scare Harry further

"Harry, I will prove you are a wizard. Have you ever made anything happen when you were angry or scared? You already told me about your cousin's toy car." Sirius said. Harry thought about it for a moment, then he nodded, "A few weeks ago I turned my teachers hair blue 'cause she was shouting at me about breaking a ruler, but it wasn't me it was Dudley, and uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia are already mad at me 'cause I somehow ended up on the roof of the school kitchens."

"How did you do that?" Sirius asked shock evident in his voice.

"I-I don't know, it was a few days ago, when I was running away from Dudley and his gang, and I went to jump behind the bins outside the kitchen, and then I was suddenly on the chimney." Harry replied nervously, looking down at his feet.

"It doesn't matter Harry, I'm not mad at you, how about you come with me." Sirius said gently.

"W-where a-are y-you taking me? A-are you taking me back to the Dursleys? I don't want to go back there, they've probably already noticed I'm gone 'cause uncle Vernon said he w-was going t-to h-hit m-me a-again a-after d-dinner." Harry said starting to panic.

Sirius knelt down in front of Harry and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Calm down Harry, I'm not taking you back there. You are never going back there not if I have a say in it."

"Promise?" Harry asked.

"I promise you Harry, you are not going back there. I was going to ask if you wanted to come and live with me at my house." Sirius asked standing up. Harry thought about it, he knew he shouldn't go with Sirius as he was practically a stranger, and you should never go with strangers. But there was something about Sirius; it was as though he recognised him from somewhere, and then he remembered Sirius said he knew him when he was a baby so that must be it. And even though everything Sirius had told him was unbelievable and very strange, Harry couldn't help trusting him, the first person he felt he could trust, as the teachers at school no longer believed him, uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia had seen to that.

"O-okay." Harry hesitantly said.

"Alright, then." Sirius said smiling encouragingly at Harry. He then took Harry's rucksack and put it onto his own back and then held his left hand out to Harry, while he took his wand out of his pocket of his robes. Harry stared at the long piece of wood in Sirius' hand. "W-what is that, S-Sirius?" he asked uncertainly. Sirius smiled that Harry had said his name. "This, Harry, is a wand; all witches and wizards have them. You get a wand when you turn eleven. And I will take you to get yours when you turn eleven."

"Okay." Harry said, and then he hesitantly fitted his extremely small hand into Sirius' larger one. "Now, Harry I want you to hold onto my hand very tightly and do not let go. Okay?" Sirius said. Harry nodded in reply and squeezed Sirius' hand tighter. Sirius then raised his wand, and everything went dark, and it felt like they were being squeezed through a tight tube and being pushed in every direction, Harry could still feel Sirius' hand, which Harry thought was sort of reassuring. A few moments alter the darkness and the feeling of being sucked through a tight tube vanished.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, and blinked a few times and noticed that he was no longer standing in the park near Privet Drive, but standing in the middle of what looked like a town square on a patch of unkempt grass holding Sirius' hand, with large imposing houses around them, even though some had a broken window or two and some had bin-bags on the steps, they were still quite imposing, well to Harry at least. Then what happened had just happened caught up with Harry and he had to take several deep breaths to stop himself from being sick. Sirius looked down at Harry with concern shinning in his eyes hand squeezed Harry's hand comfortingly. "Are you okay Harry?" Harry nodded his head still taking deep shuddering breaths. "It's alright, it will soon pass I promise, it's just a side-effect to Apparating." Sirius said soothingly, he then reached down and picked Harry up and held him to his chest in a tight hug. Sirius felt Harry wince, which caused Sirius to frown but he didn't release his hold on Harry until his breathing was back to normal. Sirius placed Harry on the ground and took Harry's small hand in his again and turned to the houses. "Welcome, Harry, to Grimmauld Place." Sirius said looking down at his small Godson.


	3. Chapter Three: Grimmauld Place

**Chapter Three: Grimmauld Place.**

Sirius led his Godson across the road and onto the path opposite the houses eleven and thirteen. Harry looked to his left and saw number ten was next to number eleven, but there was no number twelve, he then turned hesitantly to Sirius to ask why there was no number twelve, when Sirius said, "Wait a minute, Harry." Harry nodded then turned back to the houses and gasped. Right in the gap in between numbers eleven and thirteen, an house, a real house was actually growing there and was pushing numbers eleven and thirteen aside.

A few seconds later the house had fully materialised and Harry saw it had a golden number twelve on the door. Harry's mouth was hanging open and Sirius chuckled at him, effectively making Harry close his mouth. "W-wouldn't anyone of noticed that?" Harry asked.

"No, Muggles can't see this house, not many wizards and witches can either. They can only see this house if I tell them where it is." Sirius replied. "It's surrounded with Protection Charms."

"What are Muggles?" Harry asked interested.

"It's what we call people who don't have a drop of Magical blood in them, like your Aunt, Uncle and cousin." Sirius replied leading Harry up the steps to the front door, which Harry noticed had no letter box, or a keyhole, instead it just had a door bell and a knocker that was in the shape of a large silver snake. "Muggles are not very nice; well..." Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "Not all of them just my aunt Petunia, uncle Vernon, my cousin Dudley and his gang are not very nice." Harry said sadly.

"Don't worry Prongslet; you will _never _be seeing any of them again." Sirius said soothingly, but inside his blood was boiling with rage, at the unspoken words of Harry's treatment with the Dursleys. "Why did you call me Prongslet?" Harry asked. "Well," Sirius said crouching down on the step next to Harry and placing his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Your dad, James was my best friend and his nickname to me and my other best friend Remus was Prongs, and as you are his son your nickname is Prongslet, I used to call you it when you were a baby, to tease Lily and James."

"Did they have a nickname for you and what about your other friend Remus?" Harry asked quietly. "My nickname is Padfoot, as I can turn into a dog and Remus' nickname is Moony." Sirius replied. "Okay." Harry said, and then he hesitantly gave Sirius a hug which Sirius returned at full measure. "Now Harry, I want you to stay very close to me when we enter the house as I haven't lived in this house for years and I don't know what state it will be in, even though my mother only died a few years ago, but she was going mad so it might be in a horrible state, so don't touch anything, okay?" Sirius said sternly.

Harry nodded, and Sirius stood up again and took hold of Harry's hand. He then took his wand out of his pocket and touched the door with it. From inside they could hear the sound of the locks magically unlocking. Sirius opened the door, making sure he had a firm grip on Harry's hand. They entered the hallway, Harry keeping very close to Sirius' side, once they were both inside, the door closed behind them and they were plunged into darkness. Sirius waved his wand and all the lamps in the hall flickered into life, even the candelabra above them which also had snakes on it, golden this time and flickered to live. They then noticed that the dark green carpet was fraying, the wallpaper peeling, and that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, and that there was also wax and cobweb hanging from the snake candelabra. Sirius sighed and pulled Harry closer to him, and waved his wand again, this time making the dust, wax and cobwebs disappear. "That will have to do for now I suppose." Sirius mumbled. "Come on Harry lets go upstairs." He then led Harry towards the stairs, as they were walking up the first flight of stairs, they noticed the elf heads on the wall and Sirius made a noise of disgust, and pulled Harry even closer to him.

When they were on the first floor, Harry noticed long black hangings on the wall up ahead on his right, which flew open as they got closer. It revealed an extremely old woman dressed in black, she then began screaming. "HOW DARE YOU RETURN TO THIS HOUSE, YOU FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR?"

Sirius felt Harry jump back in fright, and held his hand tighter. "SHUT UP! YOU MISERABLE OLD HAG! YOU PUT YOURSELF ON THE WALL!" Sirius shouted in disgust, he then pointed his wand at the portrait, there was a jet of red light and the portrait fell silent and the hangings fell back into place.

"S-Sirius w-why w-was t-that p-portrait s-screaming?" Harry asked. Sirius turned to face Harry and noticed he was pale and he was shaking, and drew him into a hug. "It's alright Prongslet that was just a portrait of my mad old mother." Sirius explained. "Come on lets carry on upstairs." He then led Harry up to the very last landing of the house. There were two doors on this floor, one that Sirius' name on the door and the other one that had his brother's name on the door. 'Regulus Arcturus Black', Sirius then led Harry into Regulus' old room.

Sirius waved his wand making the lamps flicker on, he waved it for a second time and all the dust and cobwebs disappeared from every surface including the bed. All the furniture in the room was made of a rich, dark mahogany wood, including the beds frame, bedside table, wardrobe, desk and chair and the bookshelf which was on the opposite wall to the door. Near the large windows, the desk, chair and wardrobe were on the wall opposite the small king-sized bed. The wallpaper was green and silver; there was also a Slytherin banner and some yellowing newspaper clippings above the bed, in the beds headboard the Black Family motto 'Toujours Pur' was engraved into it.

On the wall above the desk was an old photograph with seven people all dressed in long green robes and all holding a broomstick each, Harry gasped, the reason for him gasping because when he looked at it the people in the photo were actually moving. Sirius smiled down at his shocked Godson, "That Harry is a photo of my brother and his Quidditch team at Hogwarts,"

At Harry's confused look, Sirius explained further. "Quidditch is a wizards sport played on brooms, it's sort of like football in the Muggle World, it's what we play at Hogwarts but it can be played professionally. The photo is moving because all photos in the Wizarding World move, unlike in the Muggle World where they stay still. I think its better when they move, makes them more interesting to look at." Sirius explained. "I like it better when they move too, Sirius." Harry said smiling up at his Godfather.

Sirius liked it when Harry smiled and the fact that he was making Harry smile it made me feel happier than he had felt in a long time, Harry's smile seemed to be infectious as Sirius himself couldn't help but smile at the little boy who was still clinging to his hand.

Sirius took off Harry's rucksack and placed it on the floor by the desk, Harry sat in the chair in front of the desk, Sirius crouched down in front of Harry so they were at eye-level and said, "Harry, this used to be my brother's room, but now it is yours, my room is just opposite this room. I want you to stay in here, while I go down to the kitchen and see if there is anything to eat. I want you to stay in here because this house hasn't been lived in for years, and some rooms might not be habitable and I don't want to risk you getting hurt. Okay?"

Harry didn't want to stay in here by himself he wanted to stay with Sirius, but by the look on his Godfather's face, told Harry why Sirius didn't want him going into the other rooms, so Harry nodded his understanding to Sirius. "Good boy." Sirius said ruffling Harry's hair and making him smile. "You can sleep in here and tomorrow we can clean up this house together, as a team." Harry nodded enthusiastically; he liked the sound of that. The idea of helping Sirius it made him think that they were a team, and he liked the sound of that.

Sirius couldn't understand why Harry was so enthusiastic about staying in Regulus' Slytherin bedroom, when his Gryffindor bedroom was much cooler and he told Harry this, making the small child laugh. "I'm not staying in here 'cause of that Sirius, your bedroom sound better, but you said I could help you tomorrow, that means you want me and you said we could be a team." Harry said shyly.

Sirius smiled sadly at the small boy in front of him, he then pulled Harry onto his lap into a tight hug. "We are a team Harry, and I do want you, I love you and I'm going to take care of you." Harry nodded into Sirius' shoulder. "Sirius?" Harry asked his voice, muffled by Sirius' clothes. "Yes, Prongslet?" Sirius asked curiously, he was surprised Harry had taken to him so quickly when he hardly knows him, Sirius doubted that Harry remembered him from when he was a baby, but then Sirius thought he might otherwise he might not of taken to him so quickly.

"What are Gryffindor and Slytherin?" Harry asked his head still buried in Sirius' shoulder. Sirius pulled back slightly so he could see Harry's face. "You know I told you about Hogwarts." Sirius said, when he saw Harry's nod he continued. "Well, Gryffindor and Slytherin are two of the school houses, there's four. There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. I, Remus, your mother and father were all in Gryffindor and in the same year, my brother who was a year younger than me was in Slytherin." Sirius replied. Harry nodded and Sirius gave him one last hug and placed him back in the chair, while smiling lovingly at the small boy who he has always loved as his own son. "Right, I'm going to go down to the kitchens to see if there is anything to eat, I want you to stay in this room." Sirius said sternly, Harry nodded and Sirius got up off the floor. He smiled reassuringly at his Godson and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He then made his way down stairs towards the kitchen.

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Once Sirius had entered the kitchen he waved his wand to restore some light to the depressing desolate kitchen. After the light had been restored, Sirius then noticed that the kitchen was in even worse shape than the hallways, or Regulus' bedroom. He then noticed that by one of the cupboard doors there was something that looked liked Doxy droppings. Sirius walked across the kitchen to one of the cupboards and took out a large jug and two glasses, after cleaning them with a powerful 'Scorgify', he entered the pantry on the other side of the kitchen, and started looking for something to eat and drink. Sirius then noticed that there was some orange juice and some crusty rolls, it wasn't much but at least it was something. He waved his wand to make sure they were fit to eat and drink, and realised they had an 'Ever-lasting Charm' on them. He picked them up and some plates (after cleaning them is the same way as the jug and cups) and made his way out of the pantry and the kitchen and started making his way back upstairs to Harry, he didn't want to leave Harry on his own, but he also didn't want a Doxy to bite him and their venom could be deadly to such a small child like Harry, and by the looks of the Doxy droppings in the kitchen there was definitely an infestation, but he put it from his mind for now he would deal with them in the morning, while Harry was still asleep. He also made a mental note to check the other rooms in the morning for any more infestations.

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Meanwhile, back in Regulus' old bedroom, Harry was sitting at the desk looking around the room, Harry was sitting at the desk looking around the room, and he noticed that the bookshelf on the other side of the room was full to bursting with books. He slowly got out of the chair and started walking slowly towards the book shelf. When suddenly there was a loud pop, right before the book shelf and the strangest creature Harry had ever seen before appeared. It had large bat-like ears, a snout-like nose, large yellow tennis-ball shaped eyes and its skin seemed to hang of it in wrinkly folds. Before, Harry could do anything the strange creature turned around and saw Harry and fixed him with his large yellowed-eyed stare. But then it spoke and its voice shocked Harry as it sounded like a Bull frogs croak. "What is this boy doing in Master Regulus' room, Kreacher doesn't know." The creature croaked, taking a step towards Harry, who took a step backwards. "Kreacher, will stop this filthy thief from taking any of Master Regulus' things, if he has, if has taken anything. Oh, Kreacher will make the thief pay." It then snapped its fingers and then to Harry shock he found he couldn't move a muscle.

Fear was quickly filling Harry, he wished Sirius was here, the creature then took another step towards Harry, and then Harry started shouting for Sirius. "Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. SIRIUS!" Harry screamed at the top of his voice, he couldn't stop his voice from shaking as the fear and panic reached an ultimate high now. A few seconds later the bedroom door burst open, and Sirius came in with his wand raised, he also seemed to be panting, and evidently he had run up the stairs. He then noticed that Kreacher had closed the gap between him and Harry. "KREACHER!" Sirius shouted. "LET HARRY GO!"

"Kreacher will not let the thief go, Kreacher found him here and if he has stolen anything Kreacher will make him pay." croaked the creature.

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Sirius roared. "HE IS MY GODSON, NOT A THIEF. NOW. LET. HIM. GO!" Kreacher gave Sirius a nasty look, before clicking his fingers; he then disappeared with a very large crack. Sirius placed the rolls, plates, glasses and the jug down on the desk and walked over o Harry.

"Are you okay Harry?" Sirius asked worriedly. Harry nodded fear still etched on his face, and Sirius drew him into a tight loving, calming hug. "I'm so sorry Harry." Sirius apologised. "I-its o-okay, Sirius." Harry replied. Sirius sat Harry down in the chair at the desk and handed Harry his roll, while Sirius poured them both some orange juice, Harry turned to Sirius. "What was that?" "That Harry was Kreacher the house-elf that lives here, they're meant to keep the house clean, and make food and stuff like that Merlin knows what Kreacher has been doing instead." Sirius replied.

Now that they had finished eating, the lights in the room and gotten brighter, Sirius was able to clearly see the state his Godson was in, his glasses were held together with a lot of cello-tape, he had a black eye and it also looked like he had a split lip. "Harry how did you get the black eye and the split lip, and how did your glasses get broken?" Sirius asked concerned. Harry bowed his head and looked at his hands that were clasped tightly in his lap. "My cousin Dudley and his gang p-played t-there f-favourite g-game 'H-Harry H-hunting'." Harry replied quietly, so quietly Sirius had to strain to hear him.

Sirius was angry, no he was more than angry he was fucking pissed at the barbaric game Harry's cousin and his friends play and _on _Harry as well. He then remembered what Harry had told him earlier that evening. "H-has your uncle ever hit you Harry?" Harry nodded; Sirius took a deep breath trying to get his temper under control before asking again. "W-where has he hit you?" Sirius couldn't stop his voice from shaking as he wished that none of this was true and that Harry wasn't abused, but he knew Harry wasn't lying to him.

"He punched me a few times, a-and t-then h-he u-used h-his b-belt." Harry said in between sobs. Sirius took an intake of breath as he was trying to calm himself down for Harry's sake as his temper was already bubbling below the surface waiting to be let out. "Where..." Sirius cleared his throat then tried again; he was going to murder that Muggle for even thinking of laying a sausage like finger on his precious little Godson. "Where did h-he u-use the b-belt?"

"H-he…used it on…on my b-back…a-and m-my a-ankles." Harry replied through his steadily rising sobs. Sirius pulled his sobbing Godson into his arms trying to calm him down a little before he asked to see how deep the cuts were so he could clean them. After a good ten minutes Harry had calmed down enough so Sirius placed Harry back into the chair and asked his next question, even though he hated himself for making Harry this upset but he knew he had to do it in order to clean them to stop them getting infected.

"Can…can you show me please, it's just so I can clean them. Please Harry." Sirius asked gently, his voice betraying the anger he felt deep inside him at what Vernon Dursley had done to his little boy. Harry nodded with fresh tears running down his face. He then took off old and battered trainers and socks, then he rolled the baggy trouser leg up five times just so Sirius could see both of his ankles which had deep, fresh cuts on them.

"N-now could I see your back please Harry." Sirius said, forcing himself to stay calm which was becoming increasingly difficult. Harry nodded and let go of his trouser legs and pulled the ragged blanket off of his shoulders which Sirius had just noticed was still around his Godson's small shoulders. Harry then turned around in the chair so his back was to Sirius. Sirius had stop himself from gasping out loud, so as not to upset Harry even further but it was a close shave. Sirius knew how bad Harry's back was from just looking at his shirt which had a lot of blood stains on it.

"R-right roll your jeans back up so I can clean your ankles, then I will do your back." Sirius said as he conjured a bowl of Luke-warm water and a cloth, he placed the cloth into the water and turned to face Harry, who had turned back around to face Sirius. Sirius then carefully wiped the blood off of Harry's ankles making sure, they were clean. Once Sirius was satisfied that the cuts were clean enough, Sirius performed a spell to stop any dirt from getting into the cuts and prevented them from getting infected.

He waved his wand and replaced the bloody cloth and water with a clean cloth and some clean Luke-warm water. "Right Harry, take your shirt off so I can clean the cuts on your back." Harry nodded and handed his shirt to Sirius, who waved his wand saying, "'Scorgify'" and all the blood vanished from the shirt. Sirius then proceeded to clean the cuts on Harry's small back, with Harry wincing every so often, making Sirius frown, he knew he would have to get Harry checked out by a proper Healer soon but he was on the run, maybe he could disguise himself. But then he remembered that his cousin Andromeda was a fully trained Healer maybe if he could convince her that he was innocent she could come over and treat Harry. Sirius then turned his attention back to the matter at hand he would deal with Andromeda another time; right now he had to make sure he cleaned the deep cuts on his Godson's back. After awhile of gently cleaning the cuts on Harry's back, Sirius performed the same spell he used on Harry's ankles; he then passed Harry his shirt and after Harry had put it back on Sirius pulled Harry into a tight loving hug. Harry smelled in Sirius' scent while he cried and Sirius whispered reassurances while holding him tighter to his chest. Harry sort of remembered Sirius scent it was like he had half forgotten it, and was now starting to remember it but now it represented much more. It represented that he was safe and loved in Sirius' strong loving arms.

After a few minutes they broke apart but Harry was still sitting on Sirius' lap and Sirius didn't have the heart to tell him to get off and nor did he want Harry to get off either instead he just pointed his wand at the blood stained cloth and cold bloody water and they vanished into nothing. After it was gone he turned to Harry. "Right, time for bed Prongslet I will be sleeping in here with you tonight, is that alright?" Sirius said. Harry nodded his head trying and failing to stifle a yawn. "Right, let's change your clothes into a pair of soft, red cotton pyjamas with golden lions on them." Harry smiled and nodded his head at his Godfather, he then gasped as his old and baggy shirt and jeans turned into the pyjamas Sirius had mentioned. Harry looked down at his new pyjamas in wonder, before looking up at Sirius. "Thank-you Sirius." Harry said giving him a hug. "Don't mention it." Sirius said ruffling Harry's hair before turning his robes into a pair of soft, red cotton pyjamas exactly like Harry's except there was no golden lions on them. "Right, come on into bed Prongslet." Sirius smiled as Harry tried to stifle another yawn. Sirius was shocked when Harry just nodded and got off of his lap and climbed into bed. _'Where is that boy's fire, I have never known a seven year old, not to argue about going to bed?'_Sirius thought. _'I bet it was those bloody Dursleys, they will pay for what they've done to my Prongslet.'_

Sirius then placed his wand onto the bedside table before climbing into bed next to Harry. Once Sirius was next to Harry under the covers, Harry snuggled up close to Sirius, laying his head on the soft pillow. Sirius smiled at his small Godson beside him, he then took Harry's glasses off and put them on the bedside table next to his wand, before he put his arms protectively around his Godson's small form and held him close. Sirius then picked up his wand again and flicked it to extinguish the light in the room. Sirius placed the wand back on the bedside table before he shifted under the cover to get more comfortable, Harry thinking that Sirius doesn't want him near him anymore moved away, but Sirius his arms around him and pulled him closer and started stroking Harry's messy black hair. "It's alright Harry I was just getting comfy, you didn't need to move." Sirius said he liked having Harry lying there as he was also starved of affection while he was in Azkaban for six years. Harry nodded into the pillow, while Sirius kept stroking his hair Harry liked that feeling it made him feel loved. "Goodnight, Prongslet." Sirius said, he then gave Harry a kiss on his head, and then continued to stroke Harry's hair trying to lull him to sleep. "G'night Sirius." Came Harry's sleepy reply, he then fell straight to sleep, with Sirius falling asleep not long after him, but he had a huge grin on his face.


End file.
